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Trump Claims US Gave Iran $150 Billion. We Didn’t.

In his victory speech after a series of wins in the primaries on Tuesday, Trump stated sarcastically that “We love the deal you made with Iran. We give them $150 billion, we get nothing.” See the 12:00 mark in the above video.

Actually, the US didn’t give Iran anything. The $150 billion that Trump is referring to is already Iran’s money. That money already belonged to Iran, but has been frozen because of the myriad of sanctions against the country. Also of note, is that the $150 billion quoted by Trump is the highest feasible estimate out there, with more reasoned estimates at $100 billion. But what’s $50 billion between enemies?

There are still many other sanctions still in place against Iran, and the deal brokered by the Obama administration only frees up money related to nuclear energy. Much of the money is already spoken for, being owed to various companies and foreign powers working around the sanctions. Iran claims that only $35 billion will be freed up, while most experts put the number somewhat higher.

Whether this Iran deal will work to curb their nuclear ambitions has yet to be seen, but Donald Trump again shows his complete lack of understanding of foreign policy.